Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain was granted bail by a Delhi court on Thursday in connection with an alleged corruption case linked to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).
The Rouse Avenue Court allowed Jain's bail application and directed him to furnish a bail bond of Rs 2 lakh along with two sureties of the same amount. The order was passed by Special Judge (PC Act) Digvinay Singh, who said that Jain's application for bail was being allowed.
Jain was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on August 18 in connection with alleged irregularities in the tendering process for sewage treatment plant (STP) projects of the Delhi Jal Board. The case also involves several other accused, including former DJB Chief Executive Officer Udit Prakash Rai and former contractual consultant Ankit Srivastava.
Following his arrest, Jain was remanded to judicial custody. Other accused in the case, including Rai, Nagendra Yadav, Raja Kumar Kurra and Pankaj Verma, were also sent to judicial custody, while Srivastava was initially placed in police custody for two days.
The arrest had triggered a fresh political confrontation between the ruling BJP and the AAP. The AAP strongly criticised the ACB action, with party national convener and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleging that Jain had been targeted as part of political vendetta. The party also questioned the timing of the arrest and maintained that the allegations against its leaders were politically motivated.
The BJP, however, defended the ACB's action and alleged that the corruption case highlighted failures in the implementation of sewage treatment projects during the previous AAP government. Delhi BJP leaders linked the alleged irregularities to the deteriorating condition of the Yamuna and accused the former government of failing to establish adequate sewage treatment infrastructure.
The allegations and counter-allegations have added another chapter to the prolonged political battle between the BJP and AAP over corruption cases involving senior leaders of the Delhi government.
Jain's bail, however, does not bring the corruption proceedings to an end. The allegations against him will continue to be examined during the course of the legal proceedings, while the prosecution will have an opportunity to present its case before the court.
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